Codex: Imperial Navy
by CALiGeR190
Summary: A Codex outlining everything you need to know about the ships and craft of the Imperial Navy.
1. Strike Craft

**Imperial Strike Craft**

 **Fury Interceptor**

 **Length** : 75 metres

 **Wing span** : 40 metres (main), 20 metres (secondary)

 **Crew** : 4 (1 Pilot, 1 Gunnery Officer, an Engineseer or tech servitor and a Navigator).

 **Sub-light engine** : 1 Mars-pattern 'Ascender' plasma-thrust engine

 **Power supply** : 1 Mars-pattern Plasma Fusion Generator.

 **Standard Armament** : 12 Mars-pattern Mk-22F 'Fury' Lascannons, 2 Mars-pattern 'Hellstrom' Missile launchers (with 9 independently targetable plasma or cluster munition warheads each. Fury stores ammunition and loading mechanism for 3 full reloads per launcher.)

 **Machine spirit** : M31 Signus-minoris class (the same kind used for the Warhound scout-titans)

 **Warp capable** : yes

 **Lore** : The Fury Interceptor was designed and built in the closing years of the Great Crusade, M31, as a proposed replacement for the notoriously unreliable and hard to handle Wrath Class Starfighter by Fabricator Kane of Mars. The Fury was initially only intended as a stop-gap while the Imperium looked to produce an even more deadly fighter, this fighter design (unfinished and rejected due to the Horus Heresy) would later become the Swift Death fighter of Chaos.

Since the initial creation of the Fury, the design has been expanded upon and improved. The interceptor now carriers 12 weapon hard points and multi-role missile launchers with a large stock-pile of missiles on-board; the original having 8 weapon hard points and no missiles. The modern variants of the Fury also being warp-capable allowing for independent raiding, pursuit and resonance missions the craft not requiring a carrier to be present in a system in order to perform its duties (at least for a relatively short duration, it will need to rearm missiles and refuel/repair at a carrier or on a planet after a few hours of fighting).

The Interceptor is not as mobile or numerous as its Chaos competitor, but is faster in a straight line, more versatile due to its ability to warp independently and fire missiles as well as packing significantly more firepower than the much smaller Chaos dog-fighter. The Fury also possess heavy armour plating, capable of withstanding a handful of hits from a lascannon before succumbing to damage sustained if nothing critical is hit.

While the Fury was superior to the Swift Death in several departments, squadrons of Furies would find themselves outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and surrounded by swarms of Chaos fighters during the Gothic War. But the superior firepower and durability of the Fury often meant pilots could shoot their way out of sticky situations and use the craft's high speed to zoom away; turning in to decimate many more enemy craft in a new attack run.

 **Star Hawk Bomber**

 **Length** : 120 metres

 **Wing Span** : 75 metres (main), 50 metres (secondary)

 **Crew** : 10 (4 gunners, 1 pilot, 1 co-pilot, 2 engineer, 1 targeteers, 1 navigator

 **Sub-light engine** : 1 Mars-pattern 'Implacable' plasma-thrust engine.

 **Power supply** : 1 Mars-pattern Plasma Fusion Generator.

 **Standard Armament** : 2 twin-linked lascannon turrets (one chin mounted, 1 tail mounted), 1 twin-linked multilaser turret (dorsal mounted), 2 twin-linked Heavy Bolter turrets (main-wing mounted, remotely controlled), bomb-bay capacity for up to 50 plasma or cluster missiles, 20 plasma bombs or 2 plasma, vortex or melta torpedoes.

 **Machine spirit** : M33 Signus class (same kind used in the Thunder Hawk gunship and Reaver class battle titan)

 **Warp capable** : yes

 **Lore** : The Star Hawk is one of the heaviest craft of its type in the galaxy. There are very few bombers that can match the Star Hawk for sheer brute power: Star Hawks being more than capable of cracking even the toughest hulls and equipped with enough PD to deter all but the most determined enemies. The craft was first built in M33 for the Imperial navy by Fabricator-General Kane, shortly after Kelbore-Hal's fall to power, the newly formed Imperial navy being in desperate need for a dedicated bomber attack-craft. The monstrous beast of a ship that is the Star Hawk being the result of that request.

The nearest competitor, the natively-developed Chaos Doom Fire bomber, is a pathetic attack craft when compared against the Star Hawk. The Chaos craft having barely a third of the total firepower and a lacking PD suite when compared directly to the Imperial monster. Where the Star Hawk falls is in the numbers and the speed/mobility of the bomber.

The Doom Fire can generally keep up with most fighters in a straight line, and deploy in large groups. The lumbering Star Hawk has no hope of keeping up with it's fighter escort, and despite the impressive array of bombs and thick armour/excellent PD of each bomber; they appear only in very small groups on Imperial carriers. The fact they are warp capable does provide them some level of flexibility that no Doom Fire could ever fill.

The Starhawks massive size and heavy armour/armament making it suitable for civilian enforcement when the deployment of warships is either unnecessary or are required elsewhere. Some minor human empires and rebellions even considering the StarHawk a full warship as opposed to a strike craft.

 **Shark Assault Boat**

 **Length** : 55 metres

 **Wing Span** : 30 metres (main), 15 metres (secondary)

 **Crew** : 3 (1 pilot, 1 gunners, 1 Navigator)

 **Sub-light engine** : 1 Mars-pattern 'Avast' plasma-thrust engine.

 **Standard Armament** : 2 Mars-Pattern Mk21G 'Hammer' Lascannons (forward mounted, double as las-breaches and anti-ordnance weapons), multilaser turrets (dorsally mounted), 4 Magna-Melta blast charges (1 required for a standard hull breach)

 **Machine spirit** : M33 Signus class

 **Troop capacity** : 80 Naval Arms-men or ratings plus their equipment

 **Warp capable** : yes

 **Lore** : Large and simple is the best waythe Shark assault boat. Designed by Kane to replace the thunder hawk as an assault transport in the Imperial navy. The shark was fast, able to match the Fury for acceleration in a straight line, and possessed a small but effective suite of weapons that allowed it to defend itself in an attack. The assault boat also boasting a very high troop capacity, and could generally ensure they were deployed to the target without difficulty.

The Shark could also be reused, while Dread Class assault pods that were previously used by the Imperial Army, and are still used by the Chaos war fleets, can only be used once and had no defences or significant armour protection for their own. Completely dependent on fight protection, and ultimately much shorter ranged than the Sharks. The Sharks ability to make Warp jumps also making it an excellent raiding and transport vessel if the need for one arises.

Regardless of the Shark's general quality, assault actions are still rare and unpopular with the Imperial Navy. No carrier vessel smaller than a battleship carries a significant number of these, the Imperial Navy rarely boarding an enemy vessel unless they have a clear need to do so or have crippled and immobilised the target first.


	2. Escorts

**Imperial Escorts**

 **Sword Class Frigate**

 **Size** : 1.6 KM long, 0.3 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 26,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.5 g

 **Defences** : Double-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 1 double-barrelled laser-based sub-macro turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 8 laser-based sub-macro cannons (4 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Sword Class is one of the oldest Imperial ship design still in service, dating back to the Age of Strife, its design refined to a very fine level: being battle tested across many millennia and an uncountable number of battles. The sword, like all escorts, is very small and fast by Imperial Navy standards. They are also extremely numerous, any space faring planet being easily capable of constructing the simple and well known vessel either on the ground or in orbital shipyards.

The Sword's combat capabilities, despite being common as dirt, are nothing to turn your nose up at. The rather large array of laser-based weapons are excellent for chewing apart opposing escorts and civilian shipping, massed volleys from squadrons of these frigates even cable of presenting a major threat to larger capital ships. The Sword Class also stands out among escorts for her armour.  
She is still poorly armoured, being only able to withstand the stray light macro cannon shell or two, and still vulnerable to any form of enemy lance: but her thicker than average bulkheads and prow armour make her difficult for other escorts to deal with.

The Sword Class has seen extensive service across the Imperium, and with Pirates, being one of the most heavily mass produced vessels in Imperial History. Sword Class vessels have been found raiding convoys, escorting convoys, hunting down stragglers and enemy escorts after a major fleet engagement; and escorting larger Imperial capital ships into the line of battle (a Battleship without at least 2 or 3 Sword Class escorts being a rare sight indeed in the Imperium).  
Her versatile armament, high speed, respectable armour for her size and cheap construction making her perfectly adjusted for nearly any duty an escort could be expected to fulfil: her armour and firepower proving just enough to present a very difficult adversary for any opposing escorts to deal with.

 **Firestorm Class Frigate**

 **Size** : 1.8 KM long, 0.3 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 25,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.4 g

 **Defences** : Double-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 1 double-barrelled laser-based sub-macro turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 4 laser-based sub-macro cannons (2 per broadside), 1 Light Lance (prow mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : Firestorm Class is a modification of the Sword Class made by the Gareox 'Young School' fleet lords in M35. Much of the Firestorm remains unchanged from the Sword Class in appearance and interior, although there is one major difference: her armament. Firestorm has fewer broadside weapons batteries, and less powerful engines, but that excess power goes into supporting a Prow-mounted lance. This Lance is deadly to other escorts: having the accuracy to hit them even while manoeuvring and the power to overwhelm their thin shielding and flimsy armour and cause massive damage to their systems. The Lance also has double the range of the more conventional weapon batteries found on the Sword Class, the Firestorm's firepower is also enough to present a devastating threat to fleeing and damaged capital ships: a pack Firestorms able to quickly close the distance and volley-fire Lance bolts into the stricken adversary.

These small and dangerous vessels have seen extensive service, much like the Sword class, by the side of convoy operations, supporting larger capital ships and hunting stragglers/survivors after a major fleet engagement. The Firestorm also has a darker side: being a personal favourite among many pirates. Fast, cheap, and enough firepower to quickly cripple a target vessel: swarms of these ships have been seen assaulting convoy operations across the Imperium to devastating effect, the little terrors able to quickly get the prize and scarper before an Imperial retaliation fleet can get into place.

 **Cobra Class Destroyer**

 **Size** : 1.5 KM long, 3 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 21,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 7.6 g

 **Defences** : singular-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 4 light torpedo launch tubes (prow mounted), 3 Sub-Macro Mass Driver turrets (one dorsal/prow mounted, 2 flanking the prow)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : In the competition for most numerous warship in the Imperium, the Cobra is a serious contender, roving swarms of the destroyers being found in service with every fleet in the Imperium and with pirates.  
The cobra class is designed around being a fast torpedo boat: which make a squadron of these dangerous warships a lethal threat to even the largest capital ships. The warship is also very poorly armoured (like all escorts), and the fastest warship in Imperial Navy service (fast even among other escorts), making the warship incredibly hard to hit with anything other than a lance as they make their torpedo runs and a nightmare to try and catch as they run for the cover of their home fleet/base. A single Cobra destroyer being the only ship able to escape the Yuctan incident in M40 (The Imperial navy's first encounter with a Necron fleet).

The Cobra Class is however extremely weak for attacking other escorts, her three tiny weapons batteries being simply too small to do any real damage and too short range to contest the laser-based weapons batteries, making the Cobra purely a torpedo boat with batteries for self-defence.

A variant known as the Viper Class exists that has another set of torpedo launchers, and a variant known as the Widow Maker trades its dorsal sub-macro cannon for more powerful augur arrays.

 **Tempest Class Frigate**

 **Size** : 2.1 KM long, 0.4 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 36,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.8 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 3 double-barrelled laser-based sub-macro turret (dorsal and dorsal/prow mounted), 8 Melta-pulsar cannons (4 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 4 Shark Assault boats

 **Lore** : Tempest is a strange escort in a few way. For one she is huge, about a third larger than the Sword Class, and has prow Armor that wouldn't be out of place on a light cruiser: being triple-armoured and heavily reinforced for an escort. She is armed with a battery of short range melta pulsar Weapon Batteries on each side of the ship, as well as three of the fairly typical laser based Weapon batteries mounted dorsally in turrets. She is also unique among escorts for having limited carrier capacity in the form of a single squadron of assault boats, as well as boarding equipment and a full complement of ratings and boarding personnel.

The ship was designed by Battle fleet Calixis to combat pirate operation. The idea was that the weaker weapons normally found on pirate vessels (like on the Iconoclast-Class Destroyer and, to a lesser extent, the Havoc Class Frigate) would be unable to kill the frigate due to her heavier Armor, and unable to shake off the ship in a straight line, firing her dorsal laser batteries while in pursuit. Then the ship could be left crippled burning after a single broadside form the melta pulsars or, if the cargo was sufficiently large or important, board the criminal ship and retake any cargo that may have been stolen.

This ship proved so effective in this role that the ship began seeing use against large threats to the Imperium. Although the ship was mostly useless in defensive operations, due to her incredibly short range and poor broadside and rear Armor, she proved very deadly in any offence. Able to close the distance quickly and do heavy damage, even to ship many times her size, with a mix of boarding actions and Melta pulsar bolts.

 **Falchion Class Frigate**

 **Size** : 1.4 KM long, 0.3 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 21,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.6 g

 **Defences** : Single-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 light torpedo launch tubes (prow mounted), 18 Sub-Macro mass driver cannons (9 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : Falchion Class is a warship designed as a smaller and lighter version of the Endeavour-series Light Cruisers, first proposed by Forge World Voss to conserve resources and increase the number of escorts in service with battle fleets. The initial design was stolen by Chaos forces and would become the Infidel Class frigate first seen in M40, but modified design of the Falchion would be see production and service with the Imperial Navy in M41. The Falchion's heavy armament of broadside weapon batteries and a pair of torpedo launchers allow the Falchion to engage both other escorts and larger vessels with a degree of versatility that other frigates and destroyers can't match: the large number of sub-macro weapons making short work of escorts weapons and the torpedoes able to do significant damage to larger ships, making this frigate a sort of hybrid between a destroyer and a frigate.

The class's relatively young age does mean that many in the Imperial Navy question its effectiveness, but the craft has thus far proven itself to be at least a partially competent design. Like all Voss designs, being a very innovative hybrid of existing Imperial Navy designs.

When compared to the more common sword class, the Falchion is better armed for dealing with a variety of targets, but significantly less well armoured, although the Falchion does have more slightly more powerful engines. The class tends to perform better in defensive roles and can be surprisingly effective in the hands of a skilled captain.

The Falchion Class performed well defending against the Chaos invasion of Abumbria in M41, a pair of the vessels being pitted against a small invasion fleet of a dozen vessels: 10 escorts (mostly the Falchion 'sister class' Infidel frigates) and a pair of harbinger light cruisers. The Falchions were able to use their high speed to evade the chaos fleet's initial assault and, although unable to stop the initial landing, strike back with torpedoes and cripple one of the light cruisers. In a running battle lasting several weeks the two were able to destroy the light cruiser and several of the chaos escorts before finally being able to assist in the valiant defence of Imperial ground Forces on the Planet.

 **Turbulent Class Heavy Frigate**

 **Size** : 2.5 KM long, 0.5 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 35,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.1 g

 **Defences** : triple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 2 Escort class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 1 double-barrelled laser-based sub-macro turret (dorsal/prow mounted), 6 Light Macro Cannons (3 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 3 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : Turbulent Class is rare breed of escort: having armour and firepower to contest a Light cruiser, but in a much smaller escort-sized package.  
The Turbulent Class is a warship designed by (and found exclusively within) battlefleet Calixis. The idea was to build a cheap and easily mass produced vessel that was capable of destroying any opposing escorts, and present a devastating threat to larger vessels when deployed in grouped (following the line of thinking of the largely successful Endeavour Class Light cruiser).  
This came in the form of a battery of Light Macro Cannons, a single laser-based weapon battery and very thick armour and shielding for an escort.

The problem with the design was that the escort had sacrificed much of the speed an escort would be expected to have, barely keeping up with light cruiser in a straight line and having very poor mobility: this, together with the complicated construction for an escort, meant that the Turbulent was not adopted outside of Battlefleet Calixis; the Firestorm being seen as a superior option for an escort-sized firepower supplement.

Despite this the Turbulent has seen service against various enemies of the Imperium with varying degrees of success, the Macro argument proving as deadly as her designers had hoped when engaging other escorts.  
Despite opposition from outside Battlefleet Calixis, and being an unpopular choice with younger Admirals with the Battlefleet, many of the senior Admirals at the top of Battlefleet look upon the Heavy Frigate fondly: many of their successful careers starting at the helm of a Turbulent Class.

 **Havoc Class Raider Frigate**

 **Size** : 1.8 KM long, 0.3 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew:** 26,000 (in Imperial service, more in pirate service)

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.6 g

 **Defences** (In Imperial service): faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shields

 **Standard Main Armament** : 6 fixed Prow Sub-Macro mass drivers, 2 Sub-Macro Plasma turrets (dorsal/prow mounted), 4 Sub-Macro plasma cannons (2 per broudside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters

 **Lore** : The Havoc was originally created in M36 by the fleet lords of Calixis as a merchant raider and civilian enforcement vessel for the Imperial Navy. While the Havoc performed perfectly well in these roles, being well protected, fast and more than well armed to fulfil these duties: many admirals mistrusted the designs lack of an armoured prow and nasty tendency of suffering damage against even light threats. The trusty Sword: being infinitely more reliable, versatile and durable; was much preferred by the vast majority of fleet admirals.

Eventually the escort found its way into the hands of rogue traders and Pirates where it swiftly became a firm favorite. Relatively fast, easily modified, and cheap to build and maintain while packing a savage array of weapons meant it was perfect for attacking convoy operations in groups and tearing through lighter Imperial shiping and civilian transports. This, of course, being similar to the role it fulfilled with the Imperial Navy.

Despite this, many variants have remained in service or been recaptured by numerous Imperial battlefleets: the ship now seeing service with rogue traders, merchants, pirates, civilians, the Imperial Navy, Chaos war fleets and even some alien empires. The Frigate being one of the most heavily mass produced ships in the known galaxy. Every contractor, stardock and space faring planet producing at least a dozen of these every decade.

 **Claymore corvette**

 **Size:** 0.9 KM long, 0.2 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew:** 18,000 (in Imperial service, more in pirate service)

 **Max Acceleration** : 7.4 g

 **Defences** : singular-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 Escort class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 1 Sub-Macro Mass Driver turrets (dorsal/prow mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 1 Arvus lighter

 **Lore** : The smallest vessel to see use by the Imperial Navy in large scale vessels, the Claymore was another escort creation by battlefleet Calixis. The small and fast ship being well equipped with auspex equipment for its size and more mobile than any other escort in Imperial service.

However, it proved good for little more than scout and patrol duties in the Imperial Navy. Lacking the firepower or armour to compete with any other escort, which meant it was never widely adopted outside of it's native battlefleet of Calixis.

The ship does, however, see plenty of service with pirates. The ship being easy to build and hide away, and well armed enough to rip apart lightly protected transports: large groups of up to 8 of these corvettes rushing the unwary or poorly defended, grabbing their loot, and escaping before most have a hope of catching the corvette. Or, alternatively, hiding away in tight and obscure places in order to transmit information on any potential threats to pirate warlords.


	3. Light Cruisers

**Imperial Light Cruisers**

 **Dauntless Light Cruiser**

 **Size** : 4.5 KM long, 0.5 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 65,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.3 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 double-barrelled light macro turrets (dorsal and dorsal/prow mounted), 12 light macro cannons (6 per broadside) and either a Prow lance or 6 torpedo tubes.

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Apulia lander

 **Lore** : The Dauntless Class is possibly the most heavily mass produced capital ship-sized warship in Imperial history. The ship has a long history, dating back to the early Great Crusade era, and has filled the same role successfully for over ten thousand years.

The Dauntless is designed as a versatile, cheap and reliable scout cruiser platform that was primarily optimised for recon, enforcement and patrol: but could fill a wide range of combat applications and roles. Both primary variants of the ship possess many light macro cannon, powerful argur equipment and escort-like speed and mobility. The light cruisers finding a balance of firepower, speed, utility and protection for a low price and rapid production time. The light macro cannons being much smaller and less taxing on the battle fleets to keep supplied, trading stopping power and range of their larger cousins for a faster rate of fire in combat, making them perfectly suited for chewing apart similarly sized targets and escorts.

The Lance dauntless is even more deadly towards escorts and leans more heavily towards the raiding and anti-piracy potential of the ship. The lance more than capable of overwhelming an escort's defences and destroying the in only a couple of shots.

The Torpedo Dauntless focusses more on providing the ship a means to fight larger ship and support the fleet in larger combat actions. The Dauntless able to send a volley of deadly Melta, Plasma or vortex warheads into much larger and slower to manoeuvre threats.

While the Dauntless may not be nearly as powerful as their line-cruiser cousins, nor as cheap, numerous and easy to hide as escorts, they fit a valuable role in the Imperial Navy. Its long service life, even by Imperial standards, a testament to the ship's overall quality. Even if the light cruiser often over-looked in favour the pride of the fleet: the battlecruisers and battleships, or the more powerful but generally less flexible line-cruisers.

 **Defender Class Light Cruiser**

 **Size** : 4.5 KM long, 0.5 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 65,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.1 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 3 Light-Lance turrets (dorsal and dorsal/prow mounted), 12 light Macro Cannons (6 per broadside), 1 prow Lance

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : The Defender is a modification of the Dauntless first put together as a proposal by the Fleet admirals of battlefleet Tempestus as part of plans for dedicated anti-piracy fleets laid out in M38. This line of planning and design eventually culminating in the fearsome Invincible Class Fast Battleships in M41.

The Defender modification saw most of the Dauntless' argur equipment removed, removal of her dorsal Macro Cannon armaments and power taken away from her engines; the excess power and turrets being taken away to allow for the fitting of three light lance turrets equipped with the same weapons found on the tried and tested Firestorm Frigates.

While this servilely limited the ability of the ship to fulfil patrol errands and scouting duties, it was a significant boost in firepower. The ship still retained a high speed, respectable protection for the weight class and now had enough firepower to stand toe-to-toe with some line-cruisers. Where the ship shined, however, was in systematically taking apart smaller or similarly sized vessels.

The rapid-fire cannons and lances able to tear apart most opponents before they stood a chance of doing Signiant damage to the Defender. This also made her excellent in convoy patrols. While she was virtually blind alone, with other ships to draw fire and spot targets: The Defender alone could repulse all but the most determined of attacks. The Alien Bane, achieving an incredible kill tally in throughout the Gothic War by defending convoy operations: destroying 17 escort-sized pirate vessels and some 204 pirate strike craft in one battle.

 **Enforcer Class Light Cruiser**

 **Size** : 4.5 KM long, 0.5 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 70,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.3 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 double-barrelled light macro turrets (dorsal and dorsal/prow mounted), 2 Hangar decks (1 per broadside), a Prow lance turret.

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 4 Valkyries, 12 Thunderbolts, 12 Marauders, 20 Furies, 4 Star Hawks.

 **Lore** : The Enforcer Class is a warship feared by many, being a symbol of Imperial power and authority over lesser human empires on many worlds, the Enforcer Class seeing not nearly as much service in front-line combat as in wide use as a PDF ship and keeping worlds from rebelling against the Imperium.  
The Enforcer Class armament reflects this: a pair of light hanger bays, ensuring that Imperial forces on the ground always have air supremacy over any insurgency, and a turreted lance for destroying enemy strongholds on the ground, space installations and any space-faring vessels the rebels may possess with extreme prejudice and efficiency.  
The Enforcer being so effective in this role that one of them, the Imperial Ghost, preventing chaos-fuelled rebellion in an entire sector: destroying chaos and rebel escorts across multiple planets and supporting Imperial ground forces across the sector until an Imperial fleet could respond.

Despite the Enforcer being very well suited to crushing revolts and small-scale fleet combats, she is poorly suited to larger fleet engagements: her low-ish light cruiser armour as well as small number of batteries and strike craft making her an easy target to overwhelm and destroy for other light cruisers and escorts squadrons: although the turreted Lance can be extremely dangerous to unshielded targets.

The Enforcer Class did see some service in the early stages of Gothic War, Battlefleet Gothic being desperate for carrier capable warships. She performed well against pirate fleets, turreted Lance and strike craft proving an effective counter to the swarmed and poorly armoured vessels: but proved to be a dismal warship when fighting larger threats, being replaced in the light-carrier role by the Dictator class in the mid and late Gothic War.

 **Endeavour-series Light cruisers**

 **Size** : 3.8 KM long, 0.5 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 58,000-61,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 3.9 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 light cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** :

Endeavour: 8 Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 2 torpedo launchers.

Endurance: 2 Plasma-Lance batteries (1 per broadside, 2 six-barrelled turrets per battery), 2 torpedo launchers.

Defiant: 2 hangar bays (1 per broadside).

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : (all 3 ships): 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, (Defiant only): 25 Furies, 16 Star Hawks

 **Lore** : The Endeavour series is a group of three light cruisers which are all classes interchangeable with each other in all regards bar armament.

The series of light cruisers stared with the Endeavour class. The Endeavour class was suggested by the fleet lords of battlefleet Calixis in M33. The newly formed and very escort and Light cruiser-heavy battlefleet having a desperate need for more warships that could carry line-ship weaponry. Not having the time or resources to mass produce Line-cruisers, the Calxis fleet lords design and had built a small and cheaply built light cruiser that maximised armour protection and firepower above speed or arguer equipment. The resulting ship was the Endeavour class. Slow, by light cruiser standards, but still fast enough to outrun most larger ships: and armed with a deadly battery of Macro Cannons on each broadside and boasting thick all-round armour protection. The ship very rapidly found itself amid a massive production demand, the light cruiser finding itself in use across the Imperium with nearly every major battlefleet placing orders for them to act as protective escorts for battleships and battlecruisers.

The Endurance Class came much later, in the 2nd War for Armageddon. Battlefleet Armageddon was suffering a steep attrition rate at the hands of the Orks, and it was clear that the Endeavour and its Macro Cannons (although easy to produce and replace) where inadequate vs heavy Ork armour. The battlefleet modifying its Endeavours instead with Plasma lances that could cleave through even the heaviest armour: a group of Endurance Class vessels being more than capable of taking apart even an Ork battleship in very short order.

The Defiant Class came into being in the opening years of M41 with battlefleet Gothic. The battlefleet was desperate for carriers, many of the fleet admirals firmly believing that the future of the Imperial Navy lay with assault carriers and hoped that strike craft would give the edge they needed over the many pirate, Ork and Eldar threats that constantly assailed them. The Defiant wasn't an ideal conversation, sacrificing any gun-armament or torpedoes for pure hander space. This made the ship surprisingly capable in carrying large squadrons of bombers, but at the cost of being cripplingly vulnerable to opposing ships. The defiant being incapable of serving on the frontline without at least moderate support.


	4. Line Cruisers

**Imperial Line Cruisers**

 **Lunar Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 95,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.5 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 4 plasma Lances (2 per broudside) and either 6 Torpedo launchers or a Nova Cannon.

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Apulia lander

 **Lore** : The Lunar is the workhorse, backbone and most common line cruiser of the Imperial Navy. She was created in M33 to replace the outdated and inefficient Relentless, Murder and Emasculator Class cruisers and provide the Imperium with a single mass-producible multirole line-cruiser. It proved a wild success. The next most common cruiser, the Gothic, outnumbered by about a third by Lunar Class cruisers.

Primary reason for this is the ship's armaments. She has a plasma lance battery per broadside, each lance having respectable range and terrifying anti-armour capabilities; a battery of Macro Cannons that can make short work out of anything it hits and act as suppression as well as either 6 torpedo launchers or even the legendary Nova Cannon. She also has a large cargo capacity, effective auspex equipment, and a pair of extended command and control towers and secondary bridge to allow the ship to fulfil flagship duties for smaller fleets as well as direct strike craft groups launched from carriers onto key targets. Retaining average mobility, speed and armour protection for a line cruiser alongside this versatility.

While the lunar may not be as impressive in any one role as some other Imperial cruisers, the fact she can fill such a wide variety of roles makes her a highly valued ship by nearly every battle fleet in the Navy. Vast flotillas being found everywhere in the Imperium and most battle lines being made up mainly of these cruisers.

 **Gothic Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 93,800

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.5 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 4 Plasma 'Purgatory' Lance batteries (2 per broadside), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : The Gothic Class is largely considered a failed experiment by the Imperial Navy.

The Cruiser was originally conceived to hopefully fill the same role as the mighty Apocalypse Class Battleship, which was becoming increasingly rare due to the inability to construct further vessels of that class. The battleship having a vast armament of exclusively lances that could overwhelm and destroy any vessel's defences in minutes under a massed and concentred barrage. The converted Lunar, named the Gothic Class, designed to be a cheap supplement for this role.

Unfortunately, this dream was never realised, the Gothic had very serious issues from the start. First, the power transfer technology for the Apocalypse's massed lances was lost, and only a limited number of shipyards could produce the Imperium's complex, arcane replacement; only inefficient and much less effective power transfers could be fitted to most of these cruisers. Even that proving complicated and time consuming to produce.

Secondly, the lances and new power conduit required a new armour profile which made the Gothic far too heavy and sluggish with conventional cruiser engines. Designers compensated by literally removing all armour from several main areas of the hull. The new armour layout and power consumption of the Gothic's lances preventing the chance of a Nova Cannon being added, unlike the Lunar on which she was based.

When the Gothic was finally put through combat trials, her first commanders discovered a third devastating setback. The Gothic's vaunted lances were too weak and too few to cripple other cruiser-class vessels with a single broadside (as the Apocalypse could do), and were too delicate to be fired rapidly without a serious risk of shipboard explosions. This lead to the saying: 'A lone Gothic is a dead Gothic', as the ship had to be escorted by another cruiser to be effective against most enemies.

Despite its initial failures, the Gothic class quickly found a niche: being an incredible counter to escort type vessels. The concentrated and highly accurate lance strikes from a Gothic were perfect for picking off frigates and destroyers as they attempted to close in on fleets for attack runs. And the Gothic's armour, though underwhelming for a cruiser, was more than sufficient to withstand hits from its smaller targets. Making the Gothic a favourite for anti-piracy operations and convoy escorts, where more successful and generally useful cruisers would be wasted: many Gothic cruisers being produced to fill exactly those largely less-important roles.

 **Dominator Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.4 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 98,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.4 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 16 Heavy 'Titian Forge' Macro Cannons (8 per broadside), 1 Prow Nova Cannon

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander.

 **Lore** : The Dominator is the deadliest and least common of the Imperial cruisers. This ship has roughly average armour and speed, but has a terrifying array of weapons for a ship of her weight class: being the only cruiser to boast a Nova Cannon as standard and Heavy Macro batteries equal in strength to the mighty Retribution battleship, although the limitations of the cruisers power supply allowing only half the range of the much larger battleship.

The idea behind the design was quite simple. The cruiser would deploy in small groups behind the main battle line on major combat fronts, using its Nova cannon to cripple any large enemy vessels attempting to break the line, and moving in to plug gaps and hunt stragglers with its massive macro batteries. On the offensive, a pack of Dominators would use their nova cannons to cause mass confusion and destruction as they close on enemy battle groups, get inside their formation, and tear it open with salvoes from their Heavy Macro Cannons. A handful of these Line cruisers able to rip apart fleets of ships much larger than themselves.

The cruiser wasn't unstoppable though; she was vulnerable to Ordnance and lacked strike craft or Lance batteries to defend herself effectively against smaller vessels. The Nova Cannon and Heavy Macro batteries also had a slow rate of fire, so anything that could withstand the first salvo was likely to be able to destroy the warship.

Regardless, the ship was very successful, and adored by both her crews and admirals for her reliability and flexibility on the battlefield. However, the ship came into her own in the Gothic War. One Dominator, the Hammer of Justice, found herself in an ambush where she was flanked by a pair of Chaos Carnage class cruisers: The Dominator proceeded to reduce both cruisers to floating hulks in seconds under a full barrage from both broadsides. Another, the Depth of Fury, desperately defended the shine world of Kathur against a fleet lead by the dreaded Death Guard legion flagship: Terminus Est. The Depth of Fury destroyed scores of escorts, a Styx Class Heavy Cruiser, and vaporised several decks on the Terminus Est with a Neutronium shell shot from her Nova Cannon (coming very close to destroying the massive warship), before succumbing to catastrophic damage done across 90% stricken cruiser's decks. No Imperial survivors were found on board.

 **Dictator Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.1 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings (Lunar conversion 5 KM long)

 **Crew** : 100,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.5 g (lunar conversation), 2.8 g (purpose-built)

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Macro Cannons (4 cannons per broadside), 2 Hangar decks (1 per broadside), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 50 Furies, 24 Star Hawks

 **Lore** : This warship was originally built as a stopgap measure to address Battlefleet Gothic's desperate need for carriers during the early stages of the 12th Black Crusade in early M41. The first Dictators were built from the wrecks of damaged or destroyed Lunar-class cruisers. Collapsed interior spaces were gutted and converted into hangar space, and lance batteries were traded for launch bays. For a ship built out of shipwrecks, the Dictator served its role as a cruiser/light carrier hybrid admirably well. They would escort convoys, flagship long-range patrols and spearhead pirate interdiction operations. During actions against pirates, packs of Dictators would flush Ork and human raiders out of asteroid fields with swarms of bombers so that they and the rest of the fleet could blow them apart under massed macro cannon fire.

The Dictator class quickly came into high demand during the Gothic War. Shipyards began producing purpose-built Dictator hulls with improved auspex sensors and engines for greater long-range strike potential. The Dictator class rapidly replaced the Lunar class and ineffective escort carriers as the primary escort cruiser. It was the Dictator class that proved instrumental in the destruction of Pirate's Haven, the primary base of operations for Ork and human pirates. Such was the ships success that by the end of the Gothic War, the Dictator class outnumbered the Lunar class and had largely replaced them as the primary fleet cruiser in battlefleet Gothic.

One Dictator, the Lord Solar Macharius, gained great fame under the command of Flag-Captain Leoten Semper. Flag-Captain Semper distinguished himself and his ship by delivering the first detailed auspex scans of the Planet Killer to Battlefleet command, routing a Chaos armada besieging Helia IV and securing cooperation between Eldar and Imperial forces in the final stages of the war.

 **Tyrant Class Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 92,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.2 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Plasma-Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 8 Macro Cannons (4 per broadside) and either 6 torpedo launchers or a Nova Cannon

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : The Tyrant's defining feature is its plasma-based main armament. Plasma Macro weapons being conceived in early M38 as part of an Imperial effort to extend the range of Macro weaponry. It was discovered that shells of fusing Plasma had double the range of the projectiles fired by conventional Imperial Macro cannons and where simpler and quicker to build than the heavier Laser-Macro cannons. At short range, the effects of these weapons were grisly: at the area of impact, molecules literally fused together and chunks of the ship's hull were vaporised. The intense heat generated by short-range plasma hits would render heat-sensitive enemy Lances temporarily inoperable. But there was a catch: The Plasma began to fade and fizzle out at standard Imperial engagement ranges, meaning that Plasma macro cannons could only damage unshielded escorts at the edge of their 'effective' double range.

The Tyrant was the first warship to be equipped with these weapons. She is also characterized by her slower speed and strong armour for a cruiser. The speed handicap is a result of the power-hungry cooling system required for the Tyrant's Plasma weapons, even with the restriction to just one plasma battery. Extra armour was added to increase survivability during her lumbering attack runs, giving the Cruiser a better chance of surviving and winning exchanged where she was out manoeuvred.

The experimental nature of the Tyrant's weapons meant that initial production runs were limited to specialized forge worlds. During this time, a fielded Tyrant was a rare sight. It was not until M39 that the new cruiser saw widespread production on general-purpose industrial worlds. The Tyrant experienced a sudden boom in popularity at that time, rapidly replacing the Lunar class as the preferred line-cruiser in several high profile battlefleets. Heavy armour and powerful, extended range, Macro weaponry made the Tyrant an ideal cruiser to accompany battleships and battlecruisers in the line of battle. Lord Admirals giving glowing first impressions of the new Line-Cruiser. However, as her limited stopping power at range became better known, she fell from favour with many admirals, and her low speed meant that she was ill-suited for a chase and couldn't react quickly to changing battle situations.

Despite her fall from her earlier popularity in M39, a sizable number of Tyrant class vessels are still in service across the Imperium, with dozens of new ships of this class built daily. The Tyrant proving her worth in various major battles, adding solidarity to cruiser formations and making excellent escorts for battleships: The Plasma batteries on the Tyrant being superior for taking down smaller targets, allowing the battleships to focus on larger targets unmolested. The Tyrant also having massive potential for damage in a close-range brawl.


	5. Battle Cruisers

**Imperial Battle Cruisers**

 **Overlord Class Battle Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.3 KM long, 0.85 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 100,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.4 g (standard speed), 2.9 g (boosted)

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 16 Heavy Plasma-Macro Cannons (8 per broadside), 2 dorsal Laser Lance turrets (dorsal) 6 Torpedo launchers.

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Apulia lander

 **Lore** : The Overlord Battlecruiser was the Imperial answer to the increasing numbers of Chaos Heavy Cruisers, and was built with a powerful power plant taking heavy inspiration from the experimental and potentially xenos power plant fitted to the Acheron Heavy Cruiser.

Designed in M39 by Battlefleet Obscurus in response to increased activity from Chaos war fleets. The battlecruiser incorporating a heavier variant of the Plasma-macro cannons pioneered by the Tyrant, the larger cannons having improved long-range killing power and rate of fire due to the battlecruisers massively powerful energy reserves; a pair Laser Lance's with much longer range than the older plasma-lances and a set of ever-simple and reliable torpedo launchers. This battlecruiser very quickly becoming a firm favourite across the Imperium, seen as the model by which all Imperial battlecruisers should be judged by. The ship having generally all-round good characteristics: Being fairly well armoured, decently fast and Heavily armed, fitting all criteria favoured by the Imperial Navy.

The Overlord has, despite its comparatively short service life in the navy, become one of the most common sights in large battlefleets and easily the most numerous of Imperial battlecruisers by M41. The battlecruiser being an excellent warship for destroying large fleets of similarly sized warships or brawling with larger battleships for a short time. Its armament and capabilities being close to the legendary Retribution Battleship, earning it the nick name 'The poor-man's Retribution', the battlecruiser being much cheaper and lacking the same firepower and durability of the larger battleship: although the ship had advantages of her own.

For one she was faster and more mobile by a large margin than the battleship, and had a vast power reserve that permitted the battlecruiser to put on sudden boosts of speed, range and firepower; although Imperial captain where under strict orders to not do this unless absolutely necessary due to the severe strain placed on the Battlecruiser's generators.

Needless to say, the battlecruiser is adored by admirals and captains across the Imperium: The Ship making a name for itself in nearly every major war since its creation.

 **Mars Class Battle Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.4 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 107,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.3 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Heavy 'Titian Forge' Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 2 plasma lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 2 hangar decks (1 per broadside), Prow Nova Cannon

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 50 Furies, 30 Star Hawks

 **Lore** : The Mars class has about average speed and armour, but its weapons load out certainly was designed with flexibility in mind: with Nova cannon and Launch bays for long range strike support, and Dorsal plasma Lances and Heavy Macro Cannons for tearing apart enemy cruisers at mid-range and in close quarters. The original intention of the Battlecruiser is unknown, given the secretive nature of its origin and the design's incredible age. The ship originally created on Mars for the Imperium's use in the later days of the Horus Heresy.

This warship has seen perhaps the most dramatic change of favour in the history of the Imperium of Man. One of the oldest Battlecruiser classes, originally exclusively produced by the Ring of Iron shipyards of Mars, spent its first few millennia of existence being ridiculed by most of the Imperial Navy for being 'under-gunned' for a Battlecruiser: The Overlord Class being later seen as vastly superior. No Forge Worlds other than Mars constructed the ship, no orders were placed for the ship, and construction of the Ship was halted entirely by M39.

Now, in late M41, the Mars class is one of the most common and respected ship classes in the Imperium, largely replacing the Overlord as the primary Battlecruiser with Battlefleets Calixis and Kronos. This dramatic change of favour was brought about by the performance of the Mars class in the Gothic war.

The shift in the Mars' fortune began with a pair of the ancient, unpopular battlecruisers serving with Battlefleet Gothic when Abaddon launched his offensive. Both vessels served with distinction; the _Imperius_ in particular fighting in nearly every major fleet engagement of the war, cementing a fearsome reputation for her high kill tallies among Pirate and Chaos fleets.

The Mars proved to be exactly the ship that the Battlefleet needed: long range firepower and carrier capacity on a chassis that was entirely capable of fulfilling long range escort/patrol duties with few escorts of its own being required. Although neither did anything especially notable when compared to their Overlord-class cousins, they proved that the Mars class was a powerful and valuable asset to any large fleet. Imperium-wide mass production resumed in early M41, followed shortly thereafter by widespread deployment into every major Battlefleet.

 **Armageddon Class Battle Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 98,500

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.4 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Heavy 'Titian Forge' Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 2 Plasma lance batteries (1 per broadside), 6 torpedo tubes

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : This ship was a hurried class of warship, built exclusively from the wrecks of Lunar class cruisers in Battlefleet Armageddon, to try and increase the rate at which 'new' capital ships could be produced to feed the high attrition rate of the Wars for Armageddon. The Battlecruiser keeps the Lance batteries from the Lunar class, and much of the interior is left largely untouched. But that is where similarities end: a second plasma reactor is placed in an extended rear section to power the dorsal lances and extend the range of all lance weapons on the ship, Macro Cannons removed and replaced for Heavy Macro Cannons as well as armour hastily applied to nearly every major section of the ship to try and prevent the ship from becoming a wreck again.

The ship itself served its purpose well. It provided Battlefleet Armageddon with a further means to replace losses in the ongoing war against the Ork hordes, and the larger array of weapons and greater survivability enhancing the performance of the ship in combat 10-fold when compared to the Lunar class they once were: having firepower comparable to a Battleship. However, the ship does have one glaring weakness: it is hellishly cramped. The ship, despite extensive hull refits on most variants, isn't any larger than the Lunar class it is based of off... yet carries 3,500 more crew members to service the greater number of weapons and power conduits.

This glaring weakness is what has largely prevented most other battlefleets from adopting the design. The short effective operation range making it poorly suited to the long range Escort and Patrol errands, which are common in the spread-out sectors of the Imperium, and the lack of carrier capacity making it incompatible with the Fleet preferences of many battle fleets, Gothic in particular having a very damning opinion of the 'Rust-Bucket Battlecruisers'. Although some other Battle Fleets have since been seen making their own native variants of the Armageddon Battle Cruiser from their Lunar casualties.

 **Mercury/Orion/Long Serpent Class Battle Cruisers**

 **Size** : 5.3 KM long, 0.85 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 100,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 3.1 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 16 Heavy 'Sun Breaker' Laser-Macro Cannons (8 cannons per broadside), 2 Laser Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), Prow Nova Cannon

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : This ship was specifically designed to kill pirates, and was the next phase of Battlefleet Tempestus' plans to create an anti-piracy fleet lead by admiral Knightsbridge in M41, this cruiser being built from experiences learned during the conflicts in Barbus Costa.

The ship boated a very high standard speed a battlecruiser, had a large array of brutally powerful and accurate, yet complex and expensive, Laser-Macro Cannons that could each vaporise an escort with a single well-aimed shot; a pair of laser lances and a deadly Nova Cannon.

The plan with the vessel was really very simple: groups of the battlecruisers would run down pirate fleets, corner them, and destroy them under Nova Volleys and heavy laser-macro barrages. The design philosophy of 'larger than anything faster, and faster than anything larger' prevailing with this warship, large areas of the ship given only minimal armour reinforcement. Knightsbridge and his follows supremely confident that anything that could piece its hide could be outgunned or outrun by their new creation.

 **Chalice Class Battle Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.1 KM long, 0.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 98,200

 **Max Acceleration** : 3.4 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 28 Macro Cannons (14 per broadside), 2 Plasma lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander

 **Lore** : The Chalice Class battlecruiser was an experiment performed by the Admirals of Battlefleet Calixis to improve the speed with which the Imperial Navy could deploy heavy firepower to key strategic locations. The Battlecruiser was classed as a 'Fast Heavy Cruiser' by her native Battlefleet, her design very much being of the 'Faster than anything bigger, Bigger than anything faster' line of thinking: being armed with an impressive number of Macro cannons and a compliment of torps and Dorsal Lances to provide options for engagement of larger targets and dealing with escorts/cruisers at mid-range.

The speed of the Challice Class far outstripped all its compatriots, being the fastest large capital ship produced in millennia by the time of her construction: this would be both her greatest strength and her downfall. The stress placed upon the plasma generators that propelled the ship was such that they had a nasty tendency to rupture, she also lacked armour, as the Imperial ship designers where under the impression that any enemy would be dead or far too slow to catch and kill the Chalice. Both of these major weaknesses making her an unpopular choice for large fleet engagements, however she is still a prized ship for her rarity, incredible speed and breath taking beauty for an imperial production vessel.

 **Jovian Class Battle Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.4 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 117,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.3 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 2 Laser Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 4 hangar decks (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 110 Furies, 66 Star Hawks

 **Lore** : Jovian herself spent her life as a Mars Class Battlecruiser. Having served with Mars, Battlefleet Gothic and fighting her final battle with Battlefleet Bakka against Hive Fleet Behemoth while trying to defend Macragge along with the rest of her Battlefleet, the Ultramarines chapter fleet and Battlefleet Tempestus in M41. But her story didn't end there. The wreck of the venerable Mars class would find herself the centre of attention for the Imperial admiralty, as the lesson learned from the battle with the new tyranid threat had taught them that only lances and Strike craft mattered in a fight vs the tyranids: as staying at long range from their menacing short range vessels was all that mattered.

The idea was to have the ship's Nova cannon and macro cannons striped to make room for more hanger capacity and free up power for superior engine function and Lance range. Although the idea repulsed the more hard-line 'Big-Gun Lobby' admirals, who insisted that lances where the way forward against the tyranids, the design went ahead: the destroyed Nova cannon and prow armour replaced with a new prow, and lance batteries removed for more hanger capacity.

The newly created Jovian Class would go to see large scale production with Battlefleet Gothic, and lesser production with other battle fleets. The Jovian class seeing extensive service against Orks, raiders and Tyranids across the Imperium in late M41.

 **Dominion Class Battle Cruiser**

 **Size** : 5.3 KM long, 0.9 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 106,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.5 g

 **Defences** : tipple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 1 battle cruiser class Void shield.

 **Standard Main Armament** :2 Plasma lance batteries (1 per broadside, 2 Laser Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 2 hangar decks (1 per broadside), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 2 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 50 Furies, 24 Star Hawks

 **Lore** : The Dominion Class was designed as a modern replacement for the aging Mars Class design, proposed by the Fleet-Lords of Battlefleet Bakka. The idea behind the design was to create a vessel with firepower more akin to an Apocalypse Class Battleship, but with superior Speed, cheaper production costs and not sacrificing the Hanger capacity (Carriers being in desperately short supply for Battlefleet Bakka at the time).

The designers with Battlefleet Bakka apparently didn't learn from the Gothic class. The firepower of the Lances proving ineffective against anything larger than an escort, and the Hanger capacity was no greater than that of a Dictator class Cruiser, which was much faster and cheaper to produce.

The Dominion class did, however, shine against the Tyranids in the First Tyrannic War, where the combination of Lances (which had a grizzly effect on the bio-ships of the Tyranids, much like a long range flame-thrower in space) and strike craft (as staying at range and keeping the massive ships distracted was key to survival in fleet engagements against the Tyranids) proved very effective against the Tyranids. However, the slow rate of fire of the Lances did mean they had to deployed in groups or with a heavy escort to be used to their full effect.


	6. Grand Cruisers

**Imperial Grand Cruisers**

 **Avenger Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.5 KM long, 1.8 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 141,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.6 g (2.2 g in some cases)

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 64 Macro Cannons (32 per broadside) (some having 32 total Macro Cannons and 16 Heavy 'Titan Forge' Macro Cannons, as well as 3 dorsal lance turrets)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Apulia lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers

 **Lore** : The avenger is one of the oldest Imperial ships that still sees some service in M41. Famed for its reliability and dependability, even now, these ships have largely fallen out of service with the Imperial Navy. Before the time of the Imperial Navy, these ships where essentially pocket battleships: deploying in small groups with full-battleships (acting like body guards) and fulfilling combat duties as the flagships of Cruiser flotillas.

The Avenger filling very much a 'Brawler' or 'Line Breaker' assault role is armed with massive broadsides of cruiser-grade macro cannons in such a concentration that they can make short work of anything it can bring them to bear on, although they are short ranged. The ship also featuring massively thick armour and multiple layers of void shielding, although the ship is cripplingly slow and has no prow armour or frontal armaments.

The Imperial Navy in M36 attempted to extend the life of the Grand Cruiser by replacing the lower-most broadside with more modern Heavy Macro Cannons, some even receiving speed upgrades and dorsal lances by being equipped with newer battle cruiser power plants. For a long time, these upgrades have kept the Avenger loyally serving the Imperium in active combat roles, although most began being moth balled or repurposed as heavy cargo haulers by M39 and only a handful serve with major battle fleets by late M41. The slow speed and lack of an armoured prow meaning the ship frequently suffered minor to moderate damage trying to close with targets, making them expensive additions to the fleet, the Grand cruiser ultimately achieving the same thing as an Overlord battlecruiser in a less efficient manner.

Despite this, the Avenger is still held in high regard, and even retains flagship roles in many minor battle fleets. The ships massive broadside armament and heavy durability making it a deadly foe even to battleships in a close-ranged brawl.

 **Vengeance Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.2 KM long, 1.2 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 139,500

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.7 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 4 Heavy Plasma Lance batteries (2 per broadside), 16 Macro Cannons (8 per brousdies), 12 Heavy Macro Cannons (6 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers

 **Lore** : The Vengeance is believed to have been the evolution from the Avenger Class, featuring slightly superior speed and a more versatile range of broadside armaments. While avenger being a 'line breaker' and a 'brawler' the Vengeance seeming to fill a more general purpose fire-support role. The ship is still very old, and not many are seen in late M41, the design dating back to before the Great Crusade.

The Vengeance armament reflects it's more versatile: having two different calibres of macro cannon, for dealing with smaller targets or battleships, and several heavy Lances that can make short work out of anything the Grand Cruiser chooses to engage.

The Vengeance still falls to the same weaknesses that befell all Grand Cruisers: the lack of a prow, slow speed and no frontal weapons. The Vengeance suffering from a lack of PD. The few missiles and auto cannons she is equipped with being easily overwhelmed by strike craft.

 **Exorcist Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.3 KM long, 1.1 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 112,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.9 g

 **Defences** : faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 32 Macro Cannons (16 per broadside), 4 hanger decks (2 per broadside)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers, 1 Devourer dropship, 40 Thunderbolts, 30 Marauders, 20 Valkyries, 4 Vultures, 75 Furies, 26 Star Hawks, 6 Shark Assault Boats

 **Lore** : The Exorcist is a grand cruiser that has done very well for itself in M41 in finding a role to fill. The Grand cruiser is the second fastest among regular Imperial Grand Cruisers and the only one that has managed to adapt adequately to the shifting and changing of time. This being due largely to her massive carrier capacity.

Her high carrier capacity has made her a firm favourite with many fleets. The ship still sees front-line service as a system-enforcement vessel, fleet- ground support ship, Invasion ship and an exploration vessel. The ship being very well suited to operating for extended periods of time without maintenance or support due to its high durability and capacity to defend itself. The carrier capacity it has being easily interchangeable with a wide variety of craft to specialise it into more specific roles.

Although many have still been moth balled in favour of either the Emperor Class battleship, the Nemesis Class Battleship or the Jovian Class Battle cruiser, there are still no other ships that can combine carrier capacity, Macro-firepower and durability like the Exorcist does.

 **Furious Class Grand Cruiser**

 **Size** : 7.4 KM long, 1.6 KM abeam at the wings

 **Crew** : 112,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.5 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 4 cruiser class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 32 Macro Cannons (16 cannons per broadside), 3 plasma lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 tetrarch assault-landers

 **Lore** : This ship is the last known class of Grand Cruiser to be produced: the fastest of the Grand cruisers, and the only one to have an armoured prow and frontal weapons.

The ship dates to the late Great Crusade and Horus Heresy period. It was built to provide the Imperial Navy with a more up to date version of a Grand Cruiser, taking the prow section of a Retribution and marrying it to the hull of a Repulsive-class Grand Cruiser. Also, creating a new and experimental engine for the new Grand cruiser.

The result was a Grand Cruiser as fast as a Line-cruiser that was armed and armoured like a battleship. Unfortunately, it was costly and complicated to produce, as well as the engine and warp drive having serious reliability problems: many ships losing power to their engines for no apparent reason or getting lost in the warp.

Although the ship was a very successful combat vessel, elsewhere it was woefully lacking for reliability. As such, it wasn't widely adopted. The Furious Class being the final nail in the coffin for most attempts to bring the Grand Cruiser back into the Imperial fleets. By M41, battleships and battlecruisers replacing the ancient ships in their old roles.


	7. Battleships

**Imperial Battleships**

 **Emperor Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8.5 KM long, 3.1 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 220,500

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.6 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Heavy 'Titan Forge' Macro Cannons (4 per broadside), 4 hangar decks (2 per broadside), 5 Heavy Macro Turrets (dorsally mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : turbolasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Apulia lander, 4 Tetrarch assault-landers, 2 Devourer Drop ships, 40 Thunderbolts, 30 Marauders, 20 Valkyries, 12 Vultures, 110 Furies, 40 Star Hawks, 12 Shark Assault Boats

 **Lore** : This warship has been the pride of Imperial fleets for over ten thousand years and has served the Imperium as the mainstay and flagship of nearly every major fleet. The large number of massive Heavy Macro Cannons powered by huge plasma reactors able to propel the immense projectiles far beyond the range of most cruisers and Battle cruisers and smash them into unrecognisable burning hulks; and great swarms of strike craft able to choke any attempt by smaller vessels to destroy the ponderous warship as well as reach out and strike fleets from frightening ranges due to the advanced long range auspex.

The Emperor Class is commonly used to bring powerful re-discovered colonies and rogue human empires into line with Imperium: able to choke the atmosphere of planets with swarms of hundred-metre-long bombers and masses fighters; the massive imposing shape blotting out the sun above the planet's capital from low orbit as it destroys whole fleets of lesser warships at the head of an Imperial fleet.

The battle honours claimed by the Emperor class are beyond counting: having served a major flagship role in nearly every major conflict in the Imperium for over ten millennia, the Gothic War was no exception. Lord Admiral Von Ravensburg, commander of Battlefleet Gothic, led his Battlefleet against Abaddon from the bridge of the ancient Emperor class warship the Divine Right. The Divine Right had already achieved legendary status before the war: lost in the Warp during the Horus Heresy, found thousands of years later fused with an ancient Chaos space hulk, somehow still battle-ready and uncorrupted by the taint of Chaos. The warship displayed an incredible resistance to Chaos weaponry, and with its power Von Ravensburg ultimately broke the backbone of Abaddon's armada at the Battle of Gethsemane. It was there that the Divine Right led the battlefleet directly into the centre of the Chaos formation, destroying several of Abaddon's largest warships and forcing a retreat straight into a carefully prepared Eldar ambush. The Divine Right not only survived the battle, but led from the front without receiving critical damage. She and her Admiral pursued the Warmaster and his defeated fleet to the Schindlegist system where she would destroy many more of Abaddon's ships using her massive Macro Cannons.

The ship continues to serve as Battlefleet Gothic's flagship: the ship's renown being such that a monument to the vessel was built on Holy Terra, next to a statue of her Captain Von Ravensburg and inscriptions of the names of all those who served with the Battlefleet (from Von Ravensburg himself to the lowliest merchants).

 **Retribution Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8 KM long, 2.9 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 195,500

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.1 g

 **Defences** : Triple-armoured prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 24 Heavy 'Titan Forge' Macro Cannons (12 per broadsides), 5 Heavy Lances, 6 super heavy torpedo launchers.

 **Standard secondary Armament** : turbolasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers, 1 Devourer Drop ship

 **Lore** : This Battleship is the purest expression of what the term Battleship is intended to mean, with unmatched fire-power and immensely thick armour and shielding. This Battleship is _the_ battleship of the Imperial Navy. This Class of warship is the backbone, and muscle, of the Imperial Navy: having the most armour and most ferociously powerful broadsides of any class in the Imperial Navy (which are both impressive claims given the competition), very few classes in any Navy able to challenge her power in a gunnery duel. The Retribution is the ultimate expression of Imperial ship-building process, being the absolute zenith and purest incarnation of Imperial Naval doctrine, standing for everything the Imperium values most in a vessel: firepower and protection.

The ship's armament is an all-big-gun layout of Heavy Macro Cannons (an impressive 12 of the huge cannons per side), 5 dorsal lances to fend off escorts and finish off crippled opponents and a group of huge torpedo launchers, able to cripple any other other capital ship with one massively devastating hit. The ship also boasts an impressive power plant, which allows it to boost the range of the cannons and lances beyond the reach of most Battle Cruisers and Cruisers. The ship's tactical application is simple, unchanged for millennia, and terrifyingly effective. The ship closes with its enemy, firing a swarm of massive torpedoes into the mass of enemy vessels, the massive adamantine prow and multiple thick layers of shielding protecting against all but the very heaviest of enemy fire: and then opening with a devastating barrage of Heavy Macro Cannon fire, crippling or destroying anything unlucky or foolish enough to find itself in the path of the broadside. The ship is also the backbone of any large battle line, providing the heaviest fire support and the most well protected hull to the line of warships.

The warship has seen service in nearly every major Imperial conflict for over ten millennia, alongside her sister class the Emperor Class, and earned great renown and a fearsome reputation from countless battles. Battlefleet Gothic, like all major Battle Fleets, fielded several these Battleships in fleet formations. Battlefleet Gothic's Retribution battleships were all ancient warships, dating back to the earliest days of the Imperium: one of them, Blood hawk, had served against the largest Ork Waaagh in history lead by the legendary Ork Warboss 'The Beast', served during the Age of Apostasy as well as serving loyalist forces in the Horus Heresy. These venerable vessels proved devastating wherever they engaged, dominating the flow of the battle as their heavy broadsides tore apart Battleship and Cruiser alike.

 **Apocalypse Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8.3 KM long, 3 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 200,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.9 g

 **Defences** : Triple-armoured prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleships class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 6 Heavy Plasma Lance Batteries (3 per broadside: 6 eight-barrelled turrets per broadside), 5 Heavy lance turrets (dorsally mounted), Prow Nova Cannon

 **Standard secondary Armament** : turbolasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers, 1 Devourer dropship

 **Lore** : This vessel is a terrifying opponent to behold, able to reduce whole fleets to chunks of molten slag in an incredibly short period: the awesome power and increasing rarity of the ancient vessel making her a highly sought after Battleship by many Admirals of the Imperial Navy. This warship is the sniper and heavy fire-support battleship of the Imperial navy.

This warship is truly an Ancient design, the ship pre-dating the Horus Heresy by at least a millennium, best estimates putting the original designs age as far back as the beginning of the Great Crusade and the birth of the Imperium of Man. The ship is a rare gem in the Imperial Navy, production of the Mighty vessel no longer possible, much of the technology and means of production for the ship being since lost in the mists of time: this makes the ship highly prized and a great loss to the Imperium if lost (the Class being named 'The Queen of the Void'). Many attempts have since been made to try and replicate the vessels might, but most have failed horribly. The ship class herself is an awesomely powerful Battleship, being equipped with a Nova cannon and a vast number of long range lances, having firepower in one broadside comparable to the Retribution Class: however, a slow rate of fire means that Retribution keeps the crown for most powerful broadsides. However, the lances prove to have various strengths over the more common Macro broadsides: they are more accurate (meaning they are devastating to escorts and light cruisers), they ignore heavy armour and are more effective vs void shielding (meaning that battleships have much to fear from an Apocalypse's broadside) and the Nova cannon is the perfect weapon for dealing with any escapees or for causing mass destruction and confusion as the Battleship closes in on her prey.

The Battleship, despite the increasing rarity of the Class, can be found in service with nearly every major Battle fleet: able to reduce any enemy fleet to a collection of burning hulks in seconds (with only a relatively small escort required to protect against strike craft). Despite this, the Battleship did not reportedly take part in the Gothic War, but is a popular (and surprisingly common) warship with Battle fleet Armageddon: serving as a perfect counter to the escort heavy, short range and tough armour of Ork fleets; the large number of lances carving through their heavy armour from far outside their effective engagement range.

 **Oberon Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8.3 KM long, 3 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 202,800

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.9 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Heavy 'Titian Forge' Macro Cannons (4 cannons per broadside), 2 Hangar decks (1 per broadside) 2 Heavy Plasma Lances (1 per broadside), 5 heavy lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 tetrarch assault-landers, 2 Devourer drop ships, 40 Thunderbolts, 30 Marauders, 10 Valkyries, 6 Vultures, 55 Furies, 20 Star Hawks, 6 Shark Assault Boats

 **Lore** : This ship is believed to be as old as the Apocalypse Class, having no dedicated Imperial shrine (like the Apocalypse) given its more secular history. The ship is also widely believed to be the ship that the Emperor class was built from (having suspiciously similar interiors and auspex equipment) but the exact age, purpose and origin of the design is shrouded in mystery. The ship also becoming increasingly rare, production of the vessel having long-ago ceased in favour of her successor the Emperor Class.  
The Oberon Class herself is a swiss army knife among battleships, having at least one battery of all standard Imperial weapons used in the Imperial navy: a Launch Bay, a Lance Battery, a Battery of Heavy Macro cannons, Torpedo Launchers and Dorsal Lances.  
This gives the Oberon options, a lot of options, for dealing with just about any enemy a battleship may face: sending a mixed assault of torpedoes, Macro cannons shells, lance bolts and strike craft which is very hard for any-one adversary to defend against alone. The ship also features advanced auspex sensors: allowing the ship to detect incoming enemies and launch a retaliation strike, from whatever of her weapon systems are in range, before they are even aware of the Battleships presence.

This combination, together with the trademark heavy Imperial Battleship armour, makes the Battleship perfect for long range patrols, heavy escort duty and small-scale engagements: able to remain self-sufficient for extended periods of time, with minimal escort required, able to deal with any adversary she may run into.

However, this versatility is also her biggest weakness.  
She can't produce the swarms of fighters that an Emperor or Nemesis can, match the awesome raw firepower of the Apocalypse or Retribution or even hope to hold a candle to the insane speed of the Invincible class. This has lead the Oberon to be rarely seen in major fleet engagements in the Imperium: often being held in reserve to scout out dangerous or contested areas of space, provide heavy escort to critical convoy operations and take part in extended patrols in occupied space for enemy threats.  
Oberon Class battleships did see serve with Battlefleet Gothic in the Gothic War filling these roles, but never took part in any of the main fleet engagements: seen as an inferior choice to the Retribution for line combat, and less effective in flagship duties when compared to the Emperor.

 **Invincible Class Fast Battleship**

 **Size** : 8 KM long, 2.9 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 200,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 4.3 g

 **Defences** : Triple-armoured prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 6 battleships class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 24 Heavy 'Sun Breaker' Laser-Macro Cannon (12 per broadside), 5 Heavy Laser Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : turbolasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers, 1 Devourer dropship

 **Lore** : This warship is the brain-child of Admiral Kisher, of Battlefleet Tempestus, in early M38.  
The admiral was a very frustrated man. He was tired of Ork pirates, Heretical raiders and Eldar corsairs constantly slipping inside the borders of the Imperium and reaping havoc on supply convoys: and then the Imperial fleet being unable to chase down and catch the assailants without suffering casualties. The Invincible Class was Kisher's answer to 'The Pirate Problem'. The ship combined the fearsome firepower of the Retribution, with the speed and mobility of a light cruiser.  
The concept of how the ship would perform was quite simple: the battleship would hunt in packs, with a small escort of light cruisers for dealing with any close-in opponents, and destroy roving pirates and raiders. The ship could also mercilessly chase down enemy light cruisers and cruisers, attempting to escape after a raid of on friendly convoys.

The ship did however have one serious flaw: her armour.  
Despite being frequently told that the massive power conduits that powered the ship's propulsion were too poorly protected, and being recommended to go with a smaller power-plant by many magos within the Mechanicus, Kisher (and his supporters) wouldn't do anything to the design if it sacrificed speed. The result was the Warship being very poorly armoured for an Imperial Battleship, having armour that would normally be found on an Imperial cruiser.  
This, together with its similar appearance to the more common and well-known Retribution Class, meant that many admirals employed the ship like a retribution in the main line of battle with disastrous results. This lead to widespread disillusionment with the design, the Invincible Class vessels being referred to as 'Kisher's Kombustibles'.

However, when used in her intended role and as a heavy escort, she was devastatingly effective.  
One Eldar fleet came across a group of 4 Invincible Class vessels patrolling in the Tempestus sector. The Eldar captain seeing what was in front of him as a gift, mistaking the 4 Invincibles for 4 Retributions caught without their escorts (as the Invisible does look similar to the Retribution), believing the cumbersome vessels would be unable to react and catch his much more nimble ships.  
The Eldar captain launched the surprise attack, destroying the light escort compliment and damaging the starboard batteries on one of the Invincibles, and then breaking off to make another run... only to discover in horror that the huge Imperial vessels were keeping pace with his ships and slowly destroying them under massed Heavy Laser-Macro Cannon fire.  
Caught off guard and desperate to regroup and re-assess the situation the Eldar attempted to retreat, only to be relentlessly pursued by these surprisingly nimble Imperial Battleships. Unable to run, and with no clear edge over the larger warships, the Eldar were slaughtered to the last under a barrage of Heavy Macro fire.

This, alongside other examples of the previously ridiculed warships destroying the Imperium's enemies, now making it a firm favourite of Admiral Knightsbridge and his followers. Adopting and modifying the design to be the ultimate climactic design and flagship for their anti-piracy fleets in M41.

 **Nemesis Class Fleet Carrier**

 **Size** : 8.5 KM long, 3.1 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 250,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.6 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 6 hangar decks (3 per broadside), 5 Heavy Laser Lance Turrets (dorsally mounted)

 **Standard secondary Armament** : turbolasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Apulia lander, 4 Tetrarch assault-landers, 4 Devourer Drop ships, 40 Thunderbolts, 30 Marauders, 20 Valkyries, 12 Vultures, 185 Furies, 56 Star Hawks, 24 Shark Assault Boats

 **Lore** : Despite being a relatively new design, predominantly seen in service with Battlefleet Gothic in M41, the Nemesis Class origins can be traced back to M36 with the 'Gareox incident' in Battlefleet Bakka. The 'Gareox incident' was a series of fleet exercises with Battlefleet Bakka, between the 'Young school' Admirals and the 'Big-Gun lobby' admirals, to prove the combat effectiveness of their fleet concepts and designs (diplomacy and politics having broken down after a millennia of stalemate) and was effectively an Imperial Civil-War in the Bakka sub-sector. The 'Young school' where insistent that Battleships and macro cannons were obsolete, fast attack carriers and long range lances where the way forward for the Imperial Navy. However, the combat saw the tried and tested Imperial designs winning out over the experimental Despoiler Class the younger Admirals had created, the Emperor class proving vastly as both a battleship and carrier. Bitter, with their reputation destroyed among the Imperial Admiralty and with the threat of charges of Heresy for their unauthorised ship design: the desperate admirals handed their service and remaining 3 Despoilers to Chaos.

One of their early proposals (before they created the Despoiler Class and turned to chaos) was to have the Emperor Class converted into a dedicated carrier, removing the Heavy Macro cannon turrets and batteries for more hangar bays and Dorsal lances, the Emperor class would then also have a surplus of energy to greatly improve speed and lance range.  
This obviously repulsed by the Big-Gun lobby, who stood by and supported the old Imperial designs, being fans of line-combat and broadside warfare.  
However, later experiences from the Gothic War and First Tyrannic War would present the need for a dedicated fleet carrier, and (despite the design origin, and heavy stigma still placed one the ship among the admirals of Battlefleet Bakka, who protest the vessel is an affront and betrayal to the Imperial Navy) the Emperor class conversion into Nemesis Class carriers began with Battlefleet Gothic, Tempestus and Calixis in M41.

Nemesis herself had exactly the effect that her supporters had been hoping for, able to throw up vast swarms of fighters to swamp and overwhelm enemy fleets from extreme range, and long range dorsal lances for fending off closing escorts.  
She does require a heavy escort, another battleship, a Battlecruiser or a detachment of cruisers: but the advantages she provides over Tyranid and pirate threats are enough to cement the Nemesis as a favourite among some battle fleets in the Imperium.

 **Victory Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8 KM long, 2.9 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 200,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 2.1 g

 **Defences** : Triple-armoured prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleships class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 6 Heavy Laser Lance Batteries (3 per broadside: 6 eight-barrelled turrets per broadside), 5 Heavy Laser Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), Prow Nova Cannon

 **Standard secondary Armament** : turbolasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 Tetrarch assault-landers, 1 Devourer dropship

 **Lore** : The Victory Class is believed by many to be a modified Retribution Class Battleship, having largely similar layouts internally and externally, but with an all-lance armament as opposed to the more standard Macro Cannon Batteries. The most commonly believed reason for such modifications being to replicate the massively successful Apocalypse Class Battleship. These ships are all also extremely old. How old is unknown due to the stubborn refusal of Mars to share their records of the ship, but Conqueror at least is known to have to have lead the unification/crusade fleet that ended the age of strife in the Tempestus Sector during the Great Crusade: essentially being one of the ships present at the founding of Battlefleets Temestus and Bakka and the birth of the Imperium.

Only 4 of these ships are known to be in service, all with Battlefleet Bakka: Victory, Argus, Conqueror and Hammer of Scaro (the only ship of the class to have 9 Torpedo launchers as opposed to a Nova Cannon). All these ships seeing service during the First Tyranic War in the defence of Macrage against the Tyranids.

The Victory Class with their long-range lances and Nova Cannons proving exceptionally deadly against the massed swarms of biological tyranid vessels, many of the tyranids being literally cooked alive by the blast from the Nova Cannons and Lance bolts, their fire-power and armour protection allowing all 4 to survive the intense series of fire fights that ensued in the Ultramarine sectors.

All 4 Victory Class warships are currently undergoing crew retraining and rearmament in preparation for further service with Battlefleet Bakka.

 **Vanquisher Class Battleship**

 **Size** : 8.3 KM long, 3 KM abeam at the wings (can vary massively, different battle fleets and even fleet admirals refitting and purpose-building unique and highly customised warships)

 **Crew** : 205,000

 **Max Acceleration** : 1.9 g

 **Defences** : Tripple-armoured adamantium prow, faramite-alloy armour plating, 8 battleship class Void shields.

 **Standard Main Armament** : 8 Heavy Macro Cannons (4 cannons per broadside), 4 Heavy Plasma Lances (2 per broadside), 5 Heavy Lance turrets (dorsally mounted), 6 torpedo launchers

 **Standard secondary Armament** : Turbo lasers, missile banks and autocannons (belly and spine mounted, undetermined numbers)

 **Auxiliary craft** : 4 Arvus lighters, 1 Aquila lander, 2 tetrarch assault-landers, 1 Devourer drop ship, 12 Furies

 **Lore** : The Vanquisher Class is a Unique vessel. The ship combines long range lance batteries with Macro Cannons in one broadside and has limited carrier capacity.

Only one Vanquisher is known to exist in the 41st Millennium, the Vae Victus, a Ship which was built at the special request of Lord High Admiral Javor in M32 at the shipyards of Hydraphur: although more ships of a similar layout to this Battleship are known to have been in service in small numbers during the Horus Heresy and Great Crusade, all are currently lost and believed to have been destroyed since or during the Horus Heresy.

Vae Victus herself appears like a highly modified Apocalypse Class Battleship at a first glance: have a broadside armament consisting largely of lances and dorsal lances, but the Vanquisher has little in common with the Apocalypse: having distinctly a different interior system layout and power plant, macro weapons and carrier capacity. She once had a larger series of Strike Craft launch tubes in the forward section of the ship and under the prow, an old and experimental precursor to the existing Ordnance launch bays, and a single battery of lances and Macro Cannons together with Dorsal lances. Making her more like the Oberon Class Battleship. She has since been refitted to have her early hanger bays replaced with Macro Cannon and Prow Torpedoes fitted, a small number of the strike craft launch tubes are still in action however.

The Vanquisher is typical in her armour, and the combination of many long-range lances and Macro Cannons makes her a deadly foe to any she came across, the carrier capability also making her not so vulnerable to Ordnance. Vae Victus served with Battlefleet Ultima in a similar role to the Retribution Class Battleship: Heavy Line Ship and assault battleship.

She left Active service with Battlefleet Ultima in M38, but is being re-activated for active service in M41.

 **Gloriana Class Super-Battleship**

(Specifications vary too greatly to reasonably generalise. Each ship is unique and radically different from one another.)

The Gloriana is now a ship mostly found in Chaos service, but this ship class has come to represent the history of the Imperium: once proud symbols of power and the Emperors will incarnate, they now represent the uncertain and dark future Imperium faces following the Horus Heresy.

These Warships were the only true Super-Battleship Class ever created by the Imperium.

These Warships were constructed at the request of the Emperor Himself following the unification of Terra and Mars. These Warships would dwarf anything within or without the Imperium and act as the Flagships for his mighty Crusade fleets and Space Marine legions. The ultimate expressions of Imperial power in the wider Imperial Army.

No two Gloriana Class were ever the same, each warship being built to specific requirements of each Primarch that would captain them:

- **Vengeful Spirit** , of the Lunar Wolves/Son of Horus/Black Legion and was Horus's personal flagship. Him being Warmaster, and the Emperor's favoured son, allowing him to have a ship that dwarfed all the other Gloriana Class warships in size and power. Now one of the largest and most powerful ships the Chaos War fleet possesses.

- **Conqueror** , of the World Eaters. Being Angron's ship, was much faster than most Battleships despite its immense size, had a terrifying boarding capacity and short range battery fire-power. The ship, now marked with Khone's favour, having its prow replaced with a large claw: able to catch and draw in any ship attempting to flee the Gloriana's unparalleled wrath.

- **Hrafnkel** , of the Space Wolves was essentially an oversized Retribution Battleship, dwarfing even other Glorianas, only Horus's Vengeful Spirit being larger and more powerful than it. The ship notably swatting aside the Thousand Sons' flagship and space fleet with ease at the Burning of Prospero.

- **Iron Blood** , of the Iron Warriors had a large number unique and terrifyingly powerful Weapon batteries that were poorly understood even then. The ship also has had no windows or visual observation decks of any kind. The coldly efficient mind of Perturabo seeing no need for anything beyond augur scanners to observe what he simply viewed as 'targets'.

- **Swordsman** , of the White Scars featured incredible speed, but was more in line with the size and power of a standard Battleship. Like an armoured version of the modern Invincible Class presumably.

- **Nightfall** , of the Night Lords differed in the huge number of traps it had at its disposal and grim displays of torture and madness on the inside, a controversial and untrusted ship even at the time of the Great Crusade, this ship often inspired fear upon any who faced it in battle.

- **Red Tear** , of the Blood Angels. A ship of breath taking beauty and grace, despite its immense size, having the effect of instantly restoring morale to any fleet she was a part of.

- **Fist of Iron** , of the Iron Hand. Notable for almost single-handedly crushing the Diaspex: a technology advanced diplomatic federation of planets consisting of multiple Xenos races and human colonists. The combined fleets of this federation and its many allies being incapable of doing any significant damage to the ship as it systematically destroyed their planets one at a time with its immense weapons batteries.

- **Macragge's Honour** , of the Ultramarines. The least heavily modified ship. In many ways, she was the model for the Gloriana as a Class. Also, the only Gloriana still in active Imperial service in late M41, although not actively due to heavy damage sustained fighting tyranids.

- **Endurance** , of the Death Guard. Slowest of the Glorianas, but featured impressive fire-power, armour and shielding even for a Super-Battleship. A very hard opponent to kill, slow but assured destruction for whole fleets that where unfortunate enough to face it.

- **Photep** , of the Thousand Sons. A massive carrier infused with strange reality-bending arcane features, making the ship a very difficult foe to close with and a lethal long-range combatant.

- **Fidelitas Lex** , of the Word Bearers. Little is known of this warship beyond its incredible power and massive size, presumably like the Hrafnkel.

- **Flamewrought** , of the Salamanders. Essentially a Super Heavy version of the Apocalypse, with its over-sized Nova Cannon literally called 'Vulcan's Hammer' and large number of unique lances.

- **Invincible Will** , of the Dark Angels. This mighty vessel is known to have had much in common with Macragge's Honour, although smaller and faster.

- **Shadow of the Emperor** , of the Raven Guard. Much about this ship is unknown, as the ship did not live a very long life in the Imperium, being destroyed not long after she was constructed as one of the last Glorianas to be constructed. The ship that destroyed it being the Terminus Est, a Gloriana prototype vessel that now serves as the Death Guard Flagship after the destruction of Endurance to the Imperial Armada.

- **Alpha** and **Beta** , of the Alpha legion. Two identical ships that were smaller than most Super Battleships, but had versatile armaments; like the Oberon that far surpassed the capacity of a standard Battleship. The two rarely being far apart, together being able to wreak havoc on whole fleets of lesser warships.

- **Amphion** , of the Imperial Armada. The last Gloriana, and briefly the flagship of the fledgling Imperial Navy immediately following the Horus Heresy, she led the unified Imperial Armada that pushed Chaos forces out of the Imperium and into the Eye of Terror. It is unknown what became of her, the last she was seen was leading a Battleship squadron into the heart of the Eye of Terror in hot pursuit of Chaos vessels. She has not been seen since, many believe she has been destroyed by Chaos, but a few believe she continues to travel the warp, destroying daemon and warship alike as the mighty vessel overlooks the safety of loyal captains in the warp.

 **Let me know if you want me to continue this, or if you have any ships/craft that would be applicable to the Imperial Navy that you want to cover. Otherwise, I'll be moving onto the Chaos fleet and maybe doing other fleets and ground stuff in future.**


	8. Assault Teams

**Rating Assault team**

These are teams of ex-criminals who are the first group to be deployed onto enemy ships, and in the defence of friendly ship, when boarding action occur they are also the most numerous of the Navy's armed personnel, kept in line by a Gang Ringleader, sergeant-at-arms or ex-imperial guard sergeant. They are generally less well equipped than arms-men, as they are not greatly trusted by the Navy with heavy weapons or equipment, they are very similarly armed to most guardsmen. A few that prove themselves can be risen to the rank of arms-men. Normally deploy either without armour, in the grey penal-legion uniform-tunic, or with a Flak-armour vest.

 **Weapons** :

Mk XIB Mars-pattern Lasgun: Very much like the Mk XI found among the Imperial guard, with 200-2000 shots per power-pack depending on power setting, but these more specialised for boarding. Short effective range, but does more damage.

Mk VI Tempest-pattern Autogun: a .50 caliber assault rifle with limited ammo capacity but a high potential for damage.

Shotguns: A double barrelled 9-shot semi-automatic shotgun that can fire FLAK/Canister or solid slugs at a target.

FRAG/KRAK Grenades: Frag=anti infantry fragmentation, KRAK=anti-material High Explosive

Melta-Bombs: For breaching walls and bulkheads inside a ship.

Combat and utility knife/bayonet: Self-explanatory really. A Knife and bayonet for close quarters and for simple utility.

Chainsword/Chainblade: Given to leading members of the assault team, who are most trusted with carrying such a savage weapon.

Autopistol: a .50 calibre semi-automatic pistol.

Laspistol: a downscaled lasgun with less range and less power, but more shots and compact frame.

 **Equipment** :

Combat drugs (Frenzy and Onslaught)/Chem inhaler: Frenzy is essentially used as an adrenaline rush, as the name suggests, throwing the user into an insane frenzy. The Navy taking advantage of violent tendencies of ratings in an attack.

Onslaught is more for defensive operations or for casualties: dampening emotions like fear and fatigue as well as numbing pain from injuries. Once inhaled, otherwise incapacitated soldiers can continue fighting for a while longer.

Medi-kit: a small box handed to one member of the team of ratings. Contains a few bandages, a small sterilization chamber for emergency surgeries and limited amounts of medical drugs (like anti-venom and acid-burn resign)

Vox caster: For communication with different teams and the mothership.

Dog Tags: with a serial number, ship of origin, planet of origin and name printed onto each.

Mk VII filtration device: allows ratings limited protection against nerve agents, toxins and smoky environments.

Surveyor scanner: allows early warning of threats behind walls and doors before breaching.

Flak armour: normally given to the leader of a team. Protects the wearer against shrapnel and glancing hits from small calibre weapons. Can also stop the first hit from a lasgun.

 **Naval Arms-men**

These men and women are the core of the Navy's assault and security arm. Very well equipped when compared to their Imperial Guard equivalents, but due to their relatively sheltered lives on warships they are often less experienced in combat.

 **Weapons** :

Mk XXIIIK Mars-Pattern 'Hot-Shot' Lasgun: Used also by Imperial Stormtroopers, these weapons are powered by a single large power pack the user wears on their back. Can fire up to 90,000 shots at max power settings before the barrel needs replacing. Named the 'Hot-Shot' for its ability to melt even power armoured targets into molten slag in just a dozen shots.

Mk XXXIIG Mars-Pattern 'Hell-gun' Lasgun: Used also by the Kasakins, these weapons are a sister-class of weapon to the Stormtrooper hotshot rifles, having a similar power-pack, appearance and feed system. But, instead of generating more powerful shots, it fires a massive torrent of much more standard las bolts creating an almost beam-like effect that can saw targets in half. Can fire up to 6 shots per second and a total of well over 400,000 shots before barrel replacement is needed.

Melta: A large and bulky weapon that fires an atomising beam of highly focused radiation at its target. This causes the target to heat up to the point where nuclear bonds are weakened, even the toughest materials melting into a slag under its beam. Used by arms-men for breaching walls and bulkheads as well as a combat weapon. Have a nasty habit of overheating.

Plasma gun: A bulky weapon that fires bolts of fusing plasma at its target, kept in a state of fusion by an electro-magnetic 'shell'. Once hit, the target being subjected to conditions comparable to what can be found inside stars. Very little survives a shot from a plasma gun, although they have a nasty habit over overheating and potentially exploding.

Shotguns: A double barrelled 9-shot semi-automatic shotgun that can fire FLAK/Canister or solid slugs at a target.

FRAG/KRAK Grenades: Frag=anti infantry fragmentation, KRAK=anti-material High Explosive

Melta-Bombs: For breaching walls and bulkheads inside a ship.

Combat and utility knife/bayonet: Self-explanatory really. A Knife and bayonet for close quarters and for simple utility.

Autopistol: a .50 calibre semi-automatic pistol.

Laspistol: a downscaled lasgun with less range and less power, but more shots and compact frame.

Plasma pistol: A downscaled plasma gun, very powerful for a pistol but overheats quicker than larger versions. Normally given to the Sergeant-at-arms.

Hell-pistol: Essentially a scaled down hell-gun. Still requires a back mounted power pack, and can fire a lower total number of shots, but can be held in one hand allowing for the use of a melee weapon. Normally given to the Sergeant-at-arms.

Chainsword: Several arms-men may be equipped with these if expected to fight an enemy in close quarters.

Power Sword: Given to the sergeant-at-arms in charge of a team of Arms-men. Very powerful melee weapon that can render armour pointless.

 **Equipment** :

Combat drugs (Onslaught)/Chem inhaler: Onslaught is more for defensive operations or for casualties: dampening emotions like fear and fatigue as well as numbing pain from injuries. Once inhaled, otherwise incapacitated soldiers can continue fighting for a while longer.

Medi-kit: a small box handed to all arms-men. Contains a few bandages, a small sterilization chamber for emergency surgeries and limited amounts of medical drugs (like anti-venom and acid-burn resign)

Vox caster: For communication with different teams and the mothership.

Dog Tags: with a serial number, ship of origin, planet of origin and name printed onto each.

Mk XI filtration and survival device: allows protection against nerve agents, toxins and smoky environments. Also, has a limited supply of Oxygen that can be toggled on and off, allowing arms-men to fight in decompressed areas for short periods of time.

Surveyor scanner: allows early warning of threats behind walls and doors before breaching.

Navy-Carapace armour: A thick, full suit of armour, made from layers of armour composites effective enough to deflect any bullet fired at them and even survive a direct hit from a bolter. The suit is also coated in a thin layer of reflective resign, deflecting most las-weapons fired at the armour, but this can be worn off in extended combat scenarios. The Navy-Carapace armour is also complete sealed, meaning once the helmet fitted with the Mk XI filtration device is put on, the wearer can survive the ravages of space for if they have a supply of oxygen.

Voss-pattern 'Black Plate' Carapace armour: 'Black Plate' is a form of Jet-Black carapace armour that has a refractive power field around it specifically developed for the Imperial Navy. The field causing explosives to detonate premature to hitting the armour, allowing the armour composites to absorb the remaining shrapnel and explosive energy. The field also acting to disperse energy weapons, giving the wearer a high resistance to most bolter weapons, a virtual immunity to las-weapons and some resistance to melta and plasma weapons. Given the armour's complex construction process, it isn't a common set of armour, only elite Naval Stormtrooper assault teams and sergeant-at-arms being equipped with the powerful armour. The armour being so impressive, in fact, that some Imperial Naval officers wear it as a form of status. A few fortunate Imperial Guard officers also managing to get their hands on it, if they make friends in the navy. The armour is only one-step down from power armour, as it provides massive protection against all standard ranged weapons, but gives no extra protection in melee.

 **Naval Stormtroopers**

This group is the elite of the elite in the navy. Made up of either veterans among Arms-men, or from Imperial Guard veterans and Stormtroopers, these men and women have extensive experience and training to go alongside the highest-quality gear the navy can provide.

 **Weapons** :

Mk XXIIIK Mars-Pattern 'Hot-Shot' Lasgun: These weapons are powered by a single large power pack the user wears on their back. Can fire up to 90,000 shots at max power settings before the barrel needs replacing. Named the 'Hot-Shot' for its ability to melt even power armoured targets into molten slag in just a dozen shots.

Mk XXXIIG Mars-Pattern 'Hell-gun' Lasgun: Used also by the Kasakins, these weapons are a sister-class of weapon to the Stormtrooper hotshot rifles, having a similar power-pack, appearance and feed system. But, instead of generating more powerful shots, it fires a massive torrent of much more standard las bolts creating an almost beam-like effect that can saw targets in half. Can fire up to 6 shots per second and a total of well over 200,000 shots before barrel replacement is needed.

Melta: A large and bulky weapon that fires an atomising beam of highly focused radiation at its target. This causes the target to heat up to the point where nuclear bonds are weakened, even the toughest materials melting into a slag under its beam. Used by arms-men for breaching walls and bulkheads as well as a combat weapon. Have a nasty habit of overheating.

Plasma gun: A bulky weapon that fires bolts of fusing plasma at its target, kept in a state of fusion by an electro-magnetic 'shell'. Once hit, the target being subjected to conditions comparable to what can be found inside stars. Very little survives a shot from a plasma gun, although they have a nasty habit over overheating and potentially exploding.

Shotguns: A double barreled 9-shot semi-automatic shotgun that can fire FLAK/Canister or solid slugs at a target.

FRAG/KRAK and Plasma Grenades: Frag=anti infantry fragmentation, KRAK=anti-material High Explosive, Plasma=a mini fusion reactor. Explodes violently and leaves behind a pool of super-heated plasma.

Melta-Bombs: For breaching walls and bulkheads inside a ship.

Combat and utility knife/bayonet: Self-explanatory really. A Knife and bayonet for close quarters and for simple utility.

Autopistol: a .50 calibre semi-automatic pistol.

Laspistol: a downscaled lasgun with less range and less power, but more shots and compact frame.

Plasma pistol: A downscaled plasma gun, very powerful for a pistol but overheats quicker than larger versions. Normally given to the Sergeant-at-arms.

Hell-pistol: Essentially a scaled down hell-gun. Still requires a back mounted power pack, and can fire a lower total number of shots, but can be held in one hand allowing for the use of a melee weapon. Normally given to the Sergeant-at-arms.

Chainsword: Several Stormtroopers may be equipped with these if expected to fight an enemy in close quarters.

Power Sword: Given to the sergeant-at-arms in charge of a team of Stormtroopers. Very powerful melee weapon that can render armour pointless.

 **Equipment** :

Combat drugs (Onslaught)/Chem inhaler: Onslaught is more for defensive operations or for casualties: dampening emotions like fear and fatigue as well as numbing pain from injuries. Once inhaled, otherwise incapacitated soldiers can continue fighting for a while longer.

Medi-kit: a small box handed to all Stormtroopers. Contains a few bandages, a small sterilization chamber for emergency surgeries and limited amounts of medical drugs (like anti-venom and acid-burn resign).

Field Recovery and Revival Unit (FRR-U): Given to the medic in the team, allows the Stormtrooper to revive downed members of the squad and provide things like skin-grafts and blood-plasma transfusions in the field. Able to heal otherwise lethal injuries.

Machine-Spirit Scrambling Unit (MSS-U): A complex piece of equipment that houses a powerful machine spirit, its rarity meaning only the most elite units are trusted with deploying it and only on high-profile or extremely dangerous targets. In an attack on an enemy ship, this is deployed immediately, allowing the machine spirit to get loose into the ship. If the ship is sufficiently small, the machine spirit can even overwhelm its systems completely and either leave it adrift or start shooting at friendly shipping, but otherwise opening bulkheads and scrambling targeting systems damaging the ship's ability to fight and defend itself against further boarding action.

Vox Interdiction and Interception Unit (VII-U): Equipped to one member of the team, allows them to silence all enemy communication on a ship they have boarded, preventing them from coordinating a defence or relaying messages to other ships. Can also be used for intercepting and hearing enemy transmissions, providing vital information for the team and the wider fleet.

Vox caster: For communication with different teams and the mothership.

Dog Tags: with a serial number, ship of origin, planet of origin and name printed onto each.

Mk XI filtration and survival device: allows protection against nerve agents, toxins and smoky environments. Also, has a limited supply of Oxygen that can be toggled on and off, allowing arms-men to fight in decompressed areas for short periods of time.

Surveyor scanner: allows early warning of threats behind walls and doors before breaching.

Voss-pattern 'Black Plate' Carapace armour: 'Black Plate' is a form of Jet-Black carapace armour that has a refractive power field around it specifically developed for the Imperial Navy. The field causing explosives to detonate premature to hitting the armour, allowing the armour composites to absorb the remaining shrapnel and explosive energy. The field also acting to disperse energy weapons, giving the wearer a high resistance to most bolter weapons, a virtual immunity to las-weapons and some resistance to melta and plasma weapons. Given the armour's complex construction process, it isn't a common set of armour, only elite Naval Stormtrooper assault teams and sergeant-at-arms being equipped with the powerful armour.

The Stormtrooper black plate is normally lined with blue, to denote they are Stormtroopers, and gold if they are a Stormtrooper sergeant-at-arms.


	9. Crew Ranks

**Imperial Navy Ranks**

Officer Ranks

 **Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy** \- This guy is a High Lord and is the single dude responsible for the ENTIRE Imperial Navy, though likely he doesn't do much other than delegate to his subordinates and attend tedious High Lord meetings on terra.

 **Lord-High Admiral** \- There are five of these guys, one for each Segmentum. While they're probably never anywhere near the front lines they probably have more to do, since its their job to oversee the deployment of battlefleets between sectors and ensure materials move properly from sector to sector.

 **Lord Admiral** \- The guy in charge of a battlefleet who gets direct command of vessels and formations. You see these guys in the fluff quite regularly when "key" worlds (like Armageddon) need defended or attacked.

 **Solar Admiral** \- Often a terminal rank... no really. Occasionally regular Admirals who do good jobs can put themselves forward for promotion to this position, which needs to be approved by the Lord-High Admiral, then the officer needs to travel to Terra be reviewed by the Lord-High Admiral of the Imperial Navy. Obviously this can take a very, VERY long time to approve. So they might often be dead before the promotion gets approved. If they get approved they are likely to get promoted straight up to sector commander (see Lord Admiral) as a position will have probably opened up while he was waiting. More rarely, Solar Admirals can get sent on "detached duties" which is basically a license to do as they please with their independent fleets

 **High Admiral** \- Commands several group of naval fleets (e.g. Battlegroups), often the most senior Navy officer in a Crusade but the things these fucks usually do is just having snacks with their Imperial Guard counterparts and leaving the combat duties to their subordinate Admirals.

 **Admiral** \- Gets put in charge of a battle-group and told to oversee some sub-sectors. He's usually the highest of the "front line" ranks and much of his time will be on active duty patrolling his assigned region or being sent to combat zones by his battlefleet's high command.

 **Vice Admiral** \- Battle-groups traditionally get split into three parts, with the highest Admiral taking up the portion containing the larger ships, while the "Vice" Admiral takes the "Vanguard" portion of faster moving ships.

 **Rear Admiral** \- The third portion of a Battle-group would be the "Rearguard" and usually gets assigned to the youngest/least experienced Admiral in the fleet. His job is usually the quietest one as he gets the mop-up and repair duties, this is also where inexperienced or freshly gained captains and warships gain combat experience before being reassigned under the command of a more important formation and higher ranking admiral.

 **Commodore** \- an experienced Captain in command of a squadron of capital ships. It's traditionally only a temporary rank, as capital ships don't always get assigned to each other the same way that escorts commonly do. But the realities of war often mean that ships stay together for extended periods, often well beyond the lifespans of generations of captains.

 **Lord Captain** \- not actually a rank, but an honorific applied to Captains of detached vessels operating independently. The "Lord-" part implies that they operate with the full authority of the the Imperial Navy when they act so they can deal with outside organisations (like the Mechanicus, Planetary Governors, Space Marines or Imperial Guard) on relatively even footing.

 **Captain** \- The commander of a single capital ship. He has total authority over those within the ship under his control.

 **Commander** \- Usually the ranking officer of an escort vessel or escort squadron. Is also the ranking officer on board orbital space stations. It also gets used as the terminal rank amongst Pilots, since small attack craft all fall under the remit of the Navy; so a Wing Commander would get command over all pilots based on a single carrier.

 **Lord Lieutenant** \- The second-in-command to captains of capital ships, bizarrely Commanders don't hold that role and hold their own positions. Thankfully because a chain of command exists in any military, despite a Wing Commander holding higher "actual" rank over a Lieutenant on a carrier vessel he would not hold any higher authority on that ship outside of commander pilots.

 **Lieutenant** \- A "working" rank. Either holds command over small system vessels or acts as second in command to Commanders of escorts, or as department heads on Capital ships. They are also Squadron leaders amongst pilots.

 **Sub-Lieutenant / Ensign** \- Team leaders or attack craft pilots.

 **Midshipman** \- Apprentice officers who haven't passed any exams or earned any responsibility, they would exist below the Warrant Officers in terms of authority, despite holding a commission. Midshipmen are commissioned from Imperial Nobility as part of the Imperial Tithe (which can mean virtually anyone gets the job if they send their useless heirs just to keep the best ones at home) but they are also assigned from the Schola Progenium. In addition, Midshipmen also may be taken on as a personal favour from the Captain of a vessel if he knows the family. This echoes the ancient real-world practice of young noblemen showing up while the vessel was in dock with a letter from their family and being granted a commission on the Captain's say-so.

NCO Ranks

 **Ship Master** \- the most senior Warrant officer on board a starship, also quite possibly the busiest man on the starship. It's his job to maintain the logs, update stellar navigation charts, oversee ships stores and order supplies, and command a hanger deck if there is one. Basically he's the guy who knows the ship better than anyone. In real-world historical usage, this guy would have an authority equivalent to a Lieutenant on board a starship, and would "mess" (ie: occupy the same space) as the other officers do.

 **Bosun** \- (Shorthand for Boatswain) The NCO directly responsible for all of the common crew members, including maintaining discipline. Despite his position, his actual rank may vary depending upon the size of vessel or operational requirements, in practice it never really matters since he's unlikely to ever meet another Boatswain. (real-world Boatswains could be proper Warrant Officers or not and held responsibility over all areas of the ship other than Engineering, which was left to the Chief Engineer, as if they disciplined/executed/imprisoned a skilled crewman from that department the ship could be crippled).

Note that most Capital Ships, but not all Escort ships, may have an actual Naval Commissar on board in this role, tasked with maintaining discipline up to and including the Officer compliment

(basically the commissar for the non-officers, and for the officers of most escort vessels).

 **Chief Warrant Officer** \- Also called "Chief Petty Officer" on some vessels. Will often be given command of important ship sections (like Chief Engineers, helmsmen, or auspex control, as these are critical to the ongoing operation of a starship)

 **Warrant Officer** \- You'll find lots of guys of equivalent rank on a ship, in command of various operational sections keeping the ship running at all times:

 **Masters of Ordnance** \- make certain that Torpedoes and Attack craft (if any) are fuelled and maintained. He is also the man who pulls the trigger on the Nova Cannon if the ship has one.

 **Master Gunner** \- have responsibility over all of the weapons batteries and make ensure they are loaded and fired when required.

 **Master-at-Arms** \- responsible for all "small" arms (since some warships, mostly battleships, can have whole divisions of Arms-men equipped much better than most Imperial guard divisions on board. The small arms aren't always 'small') on board a starship, overseeing all Sergeants-at-Arms, as well as maintaining order over any barracked Guard regiments currently in transit. Holds same authority as an Imperial Guard Colonel.

 **Master of the Vox** \- making sense out of the bazillions of messages that run through the bridge at any given moment both internally and externally (crews can get pretty massive, and a lot of traffic can come through at once). On larger ships he isn't alone, several Vox masters directing large teams of Vox operators on the bridge.

 **Steward** \- The guy who keeps everyone else well fed. A monumental task on larger ships (sometimes made easier by reducing the majority of the crew to slaves).

 **Gun Captain** \- Funnily enough, the man in charge of a single gun crew. Makes sure that the weapon is taken care of, is reloaded quickly enough, and is accurate when asked to fire. All of that comes back to this guy. While there are many (I mean literally thousands) that all share this rank on most ships, the dudes who man the lances and Macro cannons are normally treated as the superiors to the guys in charge of the smaller secondary weapons.

 **Sergeant-at-Arms** \- Man in charge of the weapons lockers and leader of boarding parties, as well as maintaining shipboard security. Usually they are transferred from Imperial Guard regiments so that they don't have any prior association with the crew (one of the best things that can ever happen to an Imperial guardsman, almost always a sergeant who was lucky enough to survive their first deployment). Normally a lot of these guys around, since they lead 'squads' and 'platoons' on board the ship.

Non-Officer crew:

 **Ratings** \- Press-ganged criminals or Voidsmen undergoing punishment through harsh service. They make up the majority of those sent to board enemy vessels and keep discipline on the ship. Different captains have different ways of keeping their Ratings in check, from implanting explosives into their heads to simply keeping them constantly drugged up to remain utterly obedient. Very few Ratings survive first deployment, but there is a limitless supply of low-lives the Navy can pick from to replace them.

 **Arms-men** \- Crewmen trusted to carry weapons. They are not true soldiers, as offensive boarding actions tend to be rare, but they are well equipped when compared to most Guard units. These guys also still have their own regular responsibilities on board ship as well, mainly in maintaining security and discipline. Since they are trusted more, they have slightly more freedom to move around the vessel as well, though most Imperial employees really don't want the job, since it means they get scrutinised more for any mistakes made, and they could end up being forced into beating up their buddies.

 **Voidsmen** \- the lowest rank of crewman on board a Naval Starship above the Servitors unless the Captain is cool with slavery (sometimes they literally are just slaves, but some of the more humane and less dickish have a legitimate crew of literally hundreds of thousands: most will never-ever see the captain or many of the officers in their entire lives regardless).

If they have a skill or a trade they may be referred to as _Able Voidsmen_ which is an official rank that might require examinations. Additionally, if they show leadership qualities they might be promoted to _Leading Voidsman_ and put in charge of work gangs and be considered for promotion to Warrant Officer if a position opens up on the ship.

 **I know I said I was done with this, but I forgot to include crew details. This is complete now.**


End file.
